


Compromise

by thatwriterlady



Series: 25 Days of the Holiday Season [15]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Elf on the Shelf, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Parents, Toddler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28214202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwriterlady/pseuds/thatwriterlady
Summary: Cas is upset over how his husband had interpreted his "decorate the house" instructions, but marriage is about compromise, and he'll have to remember that.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: 25 Days of the Holiday Season [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037259
Comments: 11
Kudos: 81





	Compromise

**Dec 15th:**

**_Compromise~_ **

Cas slowed the van as he pulled up to the house and stared up at the house with a mixture of shock and horror.

“Papa, wut dat?”

Cas barely glanced back at his son before his eyes locked on the house again. He was going to  _ kill _ his husband! 

He parked the car and got out, coming around to the passenger side to get the baby out. Jack was bundled up in his snowsuit and Cas wasn’t thinking as he set his son down. Jack could barely move in the suit so he didn’t notice at first that the toddler had fallen backwards in the snowdrift his father had accidentally stuck him in. Cas was so preoccupied with his growing anger at his husband that he didn’t notice his son’s current predicament.

“Papa!” 

He just stared.

_ “Papa!” _

Cas tore his gaze away from the house and looked down.

“Oh! Jack, baby, I’m so sorry!” He reached down and scooped the baby up. There was snow on the little guy’s face that he hurried to wipe away. When he looked at his son he got a cheesy smile. Jack was just shy of two and absolutely adorable. His little smile melted away just a little of his anger.

But just a little.

“Daddy didn’t put up the Christmas lights like Papa asked him to,” He explained as he cut across the sidewalk to the walkway that led to their porch.

“Wut dat?” Jack couldn’t easily point so he just looked up at the single string of lights half hanging from the roof. 

“That...is your daddy’s idea of humor. Daddy thinks that’s funny.” He sighed.

“Dat funny?” Jack looked up at the string of lights...and the figure hanging off the gutter. Dean had stuffed some old clothes, taken the time to then  _ sew those clothes together _ so the whole thing looked like a real person, and then attached the dummy to the roof. It was supposed to look like someone had gone up there to hang Christmas lights, the ladder had slipped and fallen, and now they were hanging from the roof. Oh, and their ladder was laying on the front lawn too. Damn him! Jack started laughing and gave Cas his cheesiest grin. “Dat funny, Papa!”

“You are too much like your father,” Cas said dryly as he climbed the stairs. He unlocked the door and as soon as he was over the threshold he was bombarded by the scents of cinnamon and apples. His husband was baking. After closing the door and stomping the snow off his boots he set Jack down to start undressing him. The moment the toddler was out of his boots and snowsuit he was tearing off in the direction of the kitchen. As Cas hung up his coat and the snowsuit he heard Dean greeting their son enthusiastically. 

After toeing off his shoes and putting his slippers on Cas marched down the hall and into the kitchen. He had to do a double take. There were lights strung along the tops of the cabinets and there was Christmas music playing softly. There were all sorts of Christmas decorations, everything from dish towels to a little Christmas tree sponge holder and matching soap dispenser. There was a green tablecloth on the table and the runner was silver with reindeer on it. Sitting in the center was a glass bowl with glittery pine cones and little wooden reindeers. When Dean turned to face him Jack was on his hip but it was the apron he was wearing that caught Cas’ attention. There was the body of a gingerbread man on it, minus the head. It was all very festive.

“Dean,” He was still upset. When he’d said to put up the decorations he’d meant outside, and he’d meant  _ real _ ones, not his husband’s idea of a joke. “What is that outside? That’s not what I told you to do!”

“You said put up decorations, and I did. The entire house is decorated, minus the tree. That we do together, you know that. I don’t know what you’re so upset about, I think it looks great.” Dean tickled Jack’s belly, delighting in his son’s giggles. Cas wasn’t having any of it though.

“Dean,” He put his hands on his hips and scowled at him. “You hung a single string of lights and put a  _ dummy _ up! Those are  _ not _ decorations!”

“Babe, you’re getting stressed over nothing,” Dean walked over and kissed him. “The important decorations are in here, where  _ we _ can enjoy them. Out there, we’re just showing off to the neighbors. In here, we’re celebrating as a family. I thought it would be funny, and it is. It’s a heck of a lot better than that junk Zaccariah put up, did you see his yard?”

“It’s not funny though, it looks awful!” Cas was aware that he was dangerously close to whining. He refused to whine.

“Look, if what you want is for me to go back out there, take it down and put up five million lights and ten million decorations, fine, I’ll do it, but not until tomorrow, it’s already getting dark,” Dean frowned at him as he stroked Jack’s hair. “You used to think things like that were funny.”

“Dat funny, Daddy,” Jack laughed. “Da man fall, dat funny!”

“I know, right?” Dean beamed at his son and tickled his belly. Cas rolled his eyes. They were two peas in a pod.

“Yes, ok, it’s...funny, to a point, but we’re grown ups, Dean, we have a family,” He sighed. Dean’s smile fell away and he frowned at him again.

“So being grown up and having a family means we can’t have fun? You helped me fill the entire front yard with a zombie graveyard for Halloween and we put giant bunnies and eggs out there for Easter. That was fun. You didn’t tell me we couldn’t do it because we were grownups and couldn’t have fun anymore, but now you are?”

“Dean, you’re putting words in my mouth and I don’t appreciate that,” He complained.

“Tell me, Cas, what is it that you hate so much about how I decorated?” Dean raised his eyebrows as he waited.

“It’s…” Cas frowned. “Inside is lovely, it’s very beautiful, but outside, it’s the  _ lack _ of decorations. There’s nothing out there, and people will think someone is really falling.”

“Cas,” Dean sighed heavily. “Donna across the street has Santa’s butt sticking out of her chimney. I’m pretty sure no one is going to think that’s a real person hanging off our gutter. But, if it will make you happy, I’ll go take it down and add  _ more _ .” He passed Jack to him and left the kitchen. Cas stepped into the hall in time to see him taking off the apron. His hunched shoulders and determined walk spoke volumes about how upset he was. Dean was too sweet to flat out say when his husband hurt his feelings. Instead, he would compromise himself in order to keep Cas happy. That did not make him happy though.

“Daddy cry?” Jack asked.

“No, Daddy’s not crying,” Cas frowned. “But Daddy is sad. I hurt his feelings.”

“Bad Papa,” Jack scolded him with a shake of his finger. “Be nice, Papa!”

Cas chuckled softly and kissed his son’s forehead. “I’ll be nice. I have to tell Daddy I’m sorry. Here, go play.” He set Jack down and watched him run off towards the living room. As he followed after his husband he became aware of the effort his husband had put into decorating the inside of the house. There were light’s everywhere, and even mistletoe had been hung. There was garland and as he passed through the living room he had to stop and stare. There were faerie lights on the ceiling and an entire Christmas town on the mantle. There were three brand new stockings hung, and they looked handmade. The one on the left said Daddy, the one in the middle Jack, and the one on the right said Papa. There was an Elf on the Shelf perched on the third shelf of the bookcase and there was even a Christmas themed rug on the floor. There was a Santa throw blanket folded and laying neatly on the couch as well as Christmas themed throw pillows. He hadn’t the first clue where most of this had come from and he worried about their bank account.

The front door closed with a hard thud that brought his attention back to why he’d been chasing after his husband. He hurried to the door and pulled it open in time to see Dean picking the ladder up and setting it aside. He took a good look at the rest of the neighborhood. Most of the houses had no decorations at all. Donna’s house was decorated to the max, but that’s just how she was. She had a “go big or go home” attitude about most things, but especially about Christmas. He realized this fight was silly. Dean had made more of an effort than anyone he’d ever known, and he was right, the celebration was inside, not on the front lawn. They lived in a cul de sac, who were they trying to impress? No one drove down their block unless they lived there, or they were using it to turn around and go back. 

“Dean, stop.”

Dean didn’t hear him though, he had his thick hat pulled down over his ears and his scarf wound around his neck. Cas had barely been home twenty minutes and it felt like the temperature had dropped at least ten degrees.

“Dean!” He said his husband’s name louder. This time he stopped.

“What?”

“Put the ladder back and come inside.”

“That’s what I’m doing, Cas, but I want to get your moving reindeer out here tonight. It’s supposed to snow overnight.” 

Cas let out a growl of frustration as he marched down the stairs and through the snow (he’d need to dry his slippers later) to stop Dean from disappearing around the corner of the house with the ladder.

“I  _ mean _ put it back down in front of the house. You’re right, it’s funny. Being an adult doesn’t mean we have to lose our sense of whimsy or our sense of humor. I would  _ like _ for there to be more out here, yes, but that can stay. If you’ll let me get Jack to bed I’ll help you.”

Dean smiled before leaning in to kiss him. “Aren’t your toes frozen yet? I’m already out here, I’ll get the reindeer set up. You’ve had a long enough day and now you’re going to be chilled to the bone. Go back in the house, put on some warm socks and have a cup of the homemade cocoa that’s on the stove. I’ll be in soon.”

Cas watched him backtrack to put the ladder down again. Dean kissed him one more time before disappearing around the side of the house. The cold was indeed sinking into him so after hurrying back inside he stomped on the mat to get the snow off his slippers. After taking them off he removed his wet socks and carried both to the laundry room. 

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

An hour later when Dean came inside Cas was curled up on the couch with Jack, enjoying hot cocoa and watching Frosty the Snowman. After removing his coat and boots he joined his family. Cas looked out the windows and could see the moving reindeer, all lit up. Dean snuggled up behind him and accepted Cas’ mug when it was handed to him. They sung along with Frosty and smiled happily when Jack tried to join in with them, despite not knowing the words. Dean had been right,  _ this _ was what was important. He smiled when his husband kissed the side of his neck and leaned his head back against his shoulder.

“It looks good out there, you were right, it needed a little something more. I might go add some lights to the bushes in the morning.” Dean murmured softly. 

“Mmm, if you want to,” He sighed contentedly. “I’m sorry for how I acted. You made everything look absolutely amazing in here. How bad does our bank account look now though?”

“Not bad at all. Everything you see, it’s either what we already had, like the lights, or it was gifted to us. Charlie and Gilda gave us those pillows last Christmas, remember? The Santa throw blanket too. The rug was a gift from your sister and the Christmas village was my mother’s. She gave it to us when Jack was born, we just didn’t put it up. I maybe spent some money on kitchen decorations and the Elf, but that’s about it. Charlie said we needed the Elf because Dexter has one and once he starts talking about it, Jack will want to know where  _ his _ is. They got theirs this year since Dex is old enough now to take part in the whole ruse. Jack might not know exactly what’s going on  _ this _ year, but he will next year, and then he and Dex can talk all about the Elves and where they were hiding.”

“I never thought we’d be  _ those _ parents,” Cas laughed. “I cringed when my sister bought one back when Kennedy was a baby. Between you and me, I think the Elf is creepy. I’m horrified that they picked up in popularity. Now here we are with our own child and that little creep is now in  _ our _ house.”

“Yeah, he’s a little creepy,” Dean agreed. “But hey, if it makes Jack happy, that’s what matters. We both grew up poor, not even knowing if we’d get presents each Christmas. He won’t experience that. We’ve made a good life, for us, for him, and when all his little friends are talking about where  _ their _ Elf hid, Jack will be able to say where he found his. I know it might not seem like much but we said we wanted our kids to have what we didn’t.”

“I didn’t mean a creepy Elf,” Cas joked. “But yes, I know, and I know he’ll grow up happy.”

“You better hush about that Elf or you’re going to wake up with him sitting on your nightstand watching you,” Dean teased and tickled his side. Cas giggled and squirmed away from him.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Dean’s chuckle was so full of mischief he just  _ knew _ he’d be watching nervously for the creepy Elf from now until Christmas. Damn it!


End file.
